"Eric is the only person she would sacrifice herself for," she says. "Pam is actually pretty simple and uncomplicated, and (the witches are) a complicated, unsimple foe. Her natural way to combat things does not work, and on top of everything, there's the nature of the politics that vampires are living in. They're in a precarious time now, so it's a tangled web that the writers wove for them, which is a great thing for an actor."

The actress, who married South African musician Abri van Straten two years ago, grew up in Wisconsin in a household led by a father who was "a John Wayne character, always on a horse, always collecting old Westerns, always at the shooting range trying out some new gun. Acting and the arts were for flighty people, not for us. We did practical things, where you could see an outcome." Her artistic inclinations, first as a painter and later as an actress, led to "endless conflict, until I was able to support myself, but after that they were very proud of me."

Bauer van Straten spends much of her free time working with charities, including the Amanda Foundation, a dog and cat rescue group. "I just try to shed light on suffering that doesn't have to be. My artwork is one thing that I bring to them, but when you're on a hit TV show, another thing that you can do is draw attention to things."

Favorite book: " 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck strikes a chord that is the main flag of my life, which is choice and free will. That's the main thing I am trying to do with my activism, because I don't like when someone's choice has been removed. But I want people to look at what their actions are doing."

Favorite movie: "I love all of the John Wayne movies, especially the cheesier ones that aren't necessarily his best, mainly because they remind me of my dad when we were growing up. They just make me feel safe, like everything is right in the world. I love to watch 'El Dorado,' even though it's not one of his greatest films."

Favorite record: "Not surprisingly, it's 'Imperceptible Shift in the Light' by the Lemmings. That's the CD that brought me and my husband together. There's a song on there called 'Rain' that is responsible for me stalking him in the first place."